


The Book

by Jathis



Category: Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Genre: Childhood, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Friendship, Genderfluid Character, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:00:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21556651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jathis/pseuds/Jathis
Summary: Dick gives Stanley a gift that is kept for years
Relationships: LeFou & Stanley (Disney: Beauty and the Beast), LeFou/Stanley (Disney: Beauty and the Beast)
Kudos: 1





	The Book

It was his turn to wake up and collect the eggs from the chickens. Dick woke up with a grumble, eyes closed as he fumbled around for a pair of pants. He slipped them on, mumbling a vague reply back when he heard Tom make a noise behind him.

It was the soft crying that fully woke him up. Dick blinked as he forced his eyes open, frowning as he tried to understand the source. Tom had not seemed upset and… 

Oh. The foundling. That was right.

He went to the once abandoned room they had given to the boy they had found a few weeks ago. The crying was coming from behind the door. He sighed, shaking his head. He and Tom still hadn’t found any clues as to where the boy had come from and at this point it seemed like they never would. He was just their little foundling they supposed. They had the room for him.

Dick waited a moment more before opening the door. “Hey..?” He found the boy sitting at the foot of the bed, eyes red and watery from the failed attempt to hide what he had been doing. “Are you hurt?” he asked.

Slowly the boy shook his head, hugging himself. “Non…” he whispered. He shifted over a little as Dick moved to sit beside him, staring down at the ground.

“Its okay to cry.”

“...I was trying to remember,” Stanley murmured. He sniffed, wiping at his nose. “It made my head hurt and I couldn’t remember anything,” he whispered.

“We’ll keep trying,” Dick promised, placing a hand on his shoulder. “It’s not like we’re in a rush,” he teased gently.

“What do you mean?”

“This is your home for as long as you need it to be,” Dick promised. He smiled, ruffling Stanley’s hair. “Like it or not; you’re our little foundling now, boy.” An idea came to him then and he stood up. “Wait right here,” he directed.

Stanley blinked and watched as Dick left the room. He sniffed softly, wiping away at any errant tears on his cheeks. The two men that had found him were a little rough and odd but they seemed kind enough. Who else would give a stranger their own room in their home?

“Here we are!” Dick soon returned, a book in hand. He held it out to Stanley, smiling proudly to himself. “This should help keep your mind from such unpleasant thoughts, eh?”

The boy looked down at the book curiously, opening it. “Jeanne d’Arc?” he asked.

“Oui, she was one of our greatest heroes during the Hundred Years’ War. Showed those English what France was made of and sent them running with their tails between their legs!” The boy laughed and Dick nodded, feeling a little better now that he was no longer crying. “I’ve got some chores to do and you’ve got some reading to do.”

“Oui, monsieur.”

“None of that. Dick works just fine.” 

***

“Dick, what the hell kind of book did you give to the foundling?”

He blinked and looked up from feeding the horses, raising an eyebrow at Tom several hours later. “Huh?”

“The little foundling has been doing nothing but reading all morning! He only stopped once to ask me if I would teach him how to use a sword!” Tom cried.

Dick could only shrug, “a boy his age should know how to use a sword,” he offered.

“Dick…”

“It’s just a book on Jeanne d’Arc,” he said.

Tom raised an eyebrow at that. “That’s it? The way he’s reading it, you’d think he’d found something written by Jesus Himself.”

“All boys like war stories,” he laughed.

“I suppose…”

***

Elise wrinkled her nose a little, looking at Stanley in disbelief. “She wore men’s clothes?”

Stanley smiled brightly, holding the book in their hands as Eliana took their measurements for a skirt. “Oui! She wore men’s clothes and led the French army!” they said.

Eloise huffed, fixing the curls on Stanley’s head. “She couldn’t wear a dress under her armor? Men’s clothes back then weren’t even close to being pretty like they are now!”

Stanley snorted, “lots of people tried to tell her that but she wore what she wanted to and what she needed to! Look! Even when the English said they were going to kill her..!”

“Only the English would threaten to kill someone over pants,” Eliana snorted. “Here, let’s see how it twirls!”

Stanley stepped down from the stool, closing their book before spinning around once. The material of the skirt swirled around their body and all four laughed in delight at how it looked on Stanley’s body.

***

“Stanley?” Lefou asked.

“Oui?”

“How exactly is telling our daughter stories about people dying going to help her sleep again?”

“It’s her namesake!” Stanley cried, looking up from their old and worn book they were reading from.

“It’s time for her to go to bed. Not dream about war and death,” Lefou countered. He walked up and took the book from Stanley, kissing them on the temple before flipping through it. “Why not tell one of the stories that doesn't involve a battlefield? Why not...here, this one! Where she’s able to tell the King even when he’s in disguise!” He handed back the book and pointed at where he was talking about.

Stanley hummed but nodded as they took back their book. “You know you can always tell me when the stories get too much,” they said.

Lefou just shrugged, smiling. “I know how much she means to you. It’s not the battles themselves you idolize. It’s what they mean. You do a lot more than other people who worship the military.”

Jeanne-Marie made a noise that might have sounded like annoyance at her storytime being interrupted for so long and both parents laughed, turning their attention back to her.


End file.
